The Internet is the first choice for most people when they are trying to locate information about a local business. What time does the store open? Where is the closest dry cleaners that does alterations? Where can I get the best price on office chairs? Where can I find a local plumber?
If you have a business that relies on "foot traffic" instead of "Internet traffic," you still need a website, but the website needs to be positioned a bit differently. Your website is not selling a product; it is a promotion tool for your business. As such, you want to reach consumers at the various stages of the purchase process with an online marketing strategy that blends online advertising with offline advertising.
Who Is Your Audience?
The best way to reach your audience is to know who they are and how they buy. Are your customers a younger crowd who are familiar with social media like Facebook or Twitter? If so, you might consider promoting your brand in the social media and social networking sites.
According to David Berkowitz, director of emerging media and client strategy, 360i, "Digital word of mouth – where a brand actively reaches out to website editors and bloggers to promote the distribution of the brand's assets – can also drive traffic and high quality inbound links."
How Do They Search?
How your customer searches is a key component in knowing how to optimize your website for the searches. Once you know how your customers behave in each stage of the sales process, you have a better understanding of how to put together an online and offline campaign to attract the right audience.
Noah Elin, VP of corporate strategy, Steak Media, has this to say on the subject, "Once you have a good sense of who your customers are and how they behave, develop and optimize content to meet their differing needs. This includes everything from keyword identification and expansion, optimization of digital media (images, video, news, etc.), content network selection (site targeting and ad network optimization), social marketing and coordination of activities between online strategies and offline placements."
Use Offline Techniques Online
Banner ads or Pay-Per-Click ads are not the only way to drive traffic to a website. Consider placing inexpensive ads in publications that are read by your audience. These ads can be used not to sell, but to drive traffic to your website.
Another simple technique is to use digital coupons. Coupon aggregation sites such as RetailMeNot.com, CouponChief.com, CouponCuisine.com and Savings.com offer coupons from many different brands and make it simple for consumers to find the coupons they want to use. Facebook also lets you use an application from Coupons.com on your profile. With the application, users can download new coupons each week and share with their friends.
"Coupon site visits were up 33% in October 2008, according to ComScore, with 16% of shoppers saying that they don't buy in general unless they can find a coupon. Three out of four adults are more likely to return to a store that offers coupons."
Conclusion
As a "brick and mortar" business with a local reach, you can still take advantage of the Internet as a powerful marketing tool. Take the time to really know what your audience wants, when they want it and how they want it. Then use clever online marketing techniques combined with offline techniques to reach your audience.
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